


Where The Heart Is

by Cephy



Series: Home Is Where The Heart Is [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Acceptance, Angst with a Happy Ending, Body Modification, Fluff, Homecoming, Multi, Reunions, Wings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-08-22 11:36:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8284423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cephy/pseuds/Cephy
Summary: Cloud comes home at last.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Due warning, this is the shippy bonus ending to "Home Is...". Because apparently the characters just weren't ready to shut up yet.

Once they were out in the daylight again, Squall pulled away just far enough to tug at the edge of Cloud’s cloak. “Let me see.”

“Perhaps this isn’t the best time or place,” Aeris said, putting one of her hands over Squall’s. She was looking up at the castle with a wary expression; Cloud wondered if she could sense the same presence that kept buzzing at the edges of his awareness. It was being quiet at that moment, but he wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of just standing around exposed until it changed its mind.

Squall looked sharply at Aeris, then even more sharply up at the castle, eyes moving from window to window, searching. When he didn’t find anything out of place, he looked back at Aeris with a quirked eyebrow.

Aeris shook her head. “Let’s just get home, and then we can talk.”

_Home_. Cloud closed his eyes against a sudden wave of longing. Aeris’ kitchen table; the top of the Bailey wall with Squall at his side; the noise and organized chaos of Cid’s workshop. Yes, home would be nice.

Squall’s hand tightened on Cloud’s shoulder. “Fine. Come on.”

There were no heartless between the castle and the town. No people, either, which made Cloud want to yell at Squall again. But maybe their escort was just keeping its distance for the time being, because there was also no one on the gate when they arrived, and the Bailey hallways were empty as they made their way towards the town proper. Cloud had half expected to be pounced by Yuffie the moment he stepped inside, but other than a brief, muted squawk from somewhere distant, the place was quiet and empty.

“Thought we’d let you get a good meal and some rest before letting the others at you,” Aeris murmured. “Leon told them that he saw you, and they know we were going to go fetch you home today. We can fill them in on the rest if you don’t want to go over it again.”

“Thanks,” Cloud said numbly. “That would be--“ He cut himself off, blinking. “’Leon’?”

“Squall. He changed his name to Leon while we were in Traverse Town. Something about acknowledging how events had made you a different person, wasn’t it?” she asked brightly, arching an eyebrow at Squall-- at _Leon_ , apparently.

Leon just rolled his eyes, wearing the resigned look of a man who had heard this teasing many times before. “Something like that, yes.”

Cloud squinted at him. “Overdramatic much?” his mouth said on autopilot.

Leon graced him with an incredulous expression. “Look who’s talking.”

“It was a very nice gesture,” Aeris said, mollifying, though there was still that teasing glint in her eye. “Are you going to keep the new name, though? Since things have changed again, and for the better this time.”

Leon shrugged. “We’ll see, I guess. I’m kind of used to it now.”

They bundled Cloud into Aeris’ house, and he had to pause just inside the door, closing his eyes at the familiar smell of home cooking and flowers and sunlight on wood. The next thing he knew, he was being manhandled by Leon down onto a chair.

“Let me see,” Leon said again.

Cloud let them take off the cloak, the gauntlet, his shirt. It was easiest to just let them move him; if they’d left him to do it himself he’d have ended up hiding again. The wing was obvious as soon as the cloak came off, folded flat but bulky where there shouldn’t be bulk on a normal human. The hand was more subtle, the skin gone grey and tough but otherwise not _too_ strange until you got far enough to notice that he had short, blunt talons instead of fingernails. Those were the big changes; he had other little patches of grey skin scattered over his body, but they could have been mistaken for tattoos or scars if you didn’t see the rest. Things like the eyes weren’t as obvious-- he wasn’t as sensitive to cold anymore, and he didn’t feel pain quite the same way, either, so the effects weren’t just aesthetic.

Cloud held his breath as they looked at him. Aeris hummed thoughtfully and put a hand on his back, right next to the wing, which made him jump and flick out the wing involuntarily, although he forced it back towards the floor a second later.

“Can you actually fly?”

The earnest, bright-eyed question threw him off enough that he answered without hesitating. “Short bursts. Hard to steer with only one of them, even if it does seem to run more on magic than physical exertion. Good for--” He broke off sharply, glancing sidelong at Squall-- at _Leon_ \-- before continuing. “For slowing a fall. Boosting jumps, short-distance gliding. Stuff like that.”

Aeris hummed thoughtfully, her hand still resting warm and solid against his skin. “Short bursts is still exciting. Not many get to fly even that much!”

Cloud stared. “I-- never really thought about it. Like that. I guess.” Never thought about it at all, if he could help it; certainly had never thought about it as anything that could be _good_.

There was a moment of silence during which Aeris’ smile dimmed a little and it looked a lot like she wanted to hug him again. But then her expression firmed up and he found himself being bundled upstairs and into the bathroom. “Towels are where they’ve always been,” Aeris said cheerfully, pointing. “I’ll get Leon to find you some clothes. Come down when you’re done, I’ll have lunch ready by then.”

And then she was gone, and really, what else was there to do at that point but follow orders?

Hot showers were definitely something he had missed.

When Cloud crept back down the stairs and into the kitchen, he was greeted by the smell of something baking. Leon glared at him when he hesitated in the doorway, so Cloud took another deep, bracing breath and stepped forward. The shirt that had been left for him was hastily modified to allow it to go on around the wing, leaving it fully exposed no matter how hard he pulled it flat against his back. Despite the fact that they’d already seen it-- seen _him_ \-- it still felt terribly awkward. Made him want to go hunt up his cloak from wherever they’d hidden it.

Leon eyed him, then sighed, something an awful lot like understanding lighting in his eyes. “Your old cloak was a wreck,” he said bluntly. “I threw it out. But I’ll find you something else before the others come by tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Cloud echoed warily.

Leon gave him a short nod. “I went and filled in Cid and Yuffie while you were in the shower. They’ll pass on whatever needs to be passed on, and no one will bother us until tomorrow at the earliest.” _Or else_ , his expression said.

“Obviously you’ll stay here tonight,” Aeris jumped in. She started towards the table with an armful of plates, at which point Leon jumped up and took them from her and started setting them out. Aeris beamed at him; Leon flushed faintly. Cloud found himself smiling at how familiar it all felt, even still. “There’s the guest room, or-- our bed is big enough to share. If you’re still interested in that.” She waggled her eyebrows, grinning, then gentled. “You can stay here a lot longer than just tonight, too, if you want. I know it’s been a while, and a lot’s happened. But-- we’ve missed you. We’d both like you to stay.”

Cloud blinked at her, then at Leon who was nodding like he actually agreed. “How can you just-- just offer that, like nothing’s changed?” Cloud demanded. “Like we’re still who we used to be? I’ve changed-- and I don’t just mean _this_.” He held up his hand with his gray fingers hooked. “I’m sure you have, too; no one goes through what we have without changing.”

Aeris pursed her lips, and planted her hands on her hips. “I think it’s exactly because of what’s _changed_ that I want you to stay. We all know exactly what it feels like to lose each other-- or to think we did, at least. And now by some miracle we’re here again, together, and I never, ever want to lose this again. Not unless it wants to be lost, I guess, which-- you don’t, right? You’re just being all self-doubting and defeatist and you don’t actually want us to let you go, right?”

Cloud’s throat had closed up too tight to talk, but he managed a few jerky shakes of his head in answer.

It was Leon who gusted out a heavy sigh and stepped forward. “Good,” he said, then wrapped one hand around the back of Cloud’s neck, leaned down, and kissed him.

For a moment, everything in Cloud’s body seized up, and then just as quickly all of the tension drained away in a rush. He helplessly echoed Leon, one hand rising to cup around Leon’s head in turn-- the normal hand, thank Gaia. he was far too distracted to have kept his claws safely out of the way if it had been the other. Aeris was waiting for him when he came up for air, pulling him into a sweet kiss of her own, wrapping both of her arms around his shoulders.

He sighed when they stepped back, his eyes closed, his thoughts gone blessedly still and quiet. They put food in front of him, and he ate it. They led him upstairs, draped a quilt over him and pulled him down to lie between them, and he went without protest, heavy exhaustion creeping through all his limbs. He couldn’t remember how long it had been since he’d truly slept. Perhaps since the last time he’d been in this exact same position, with the same voices murmuring over his head and the same hand stroking softly through his hair.

_Please, Gaia, if this is a dream, let me not wake up,_ he thought muzzily, and then: _Please, Gaia, let this not be a dream._

Soaking in the warmth from either side, wrapped up in the comfort of familiar presences, Cloud slept.


End file.
